If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a pretty wordy girl. With that comes the extracurriculars that bring out my wordsmithery—confession, that may not be a word. In reading this, you’ll learn about the different ways I’ve come to enjoy the writing opportunities I’ve come into in college. I will be comparing them on three scales.
1. Type of writing
2. Personal conduct
3. Community
Her Campus
The type of writing I do is vast, as is proof by my portfolio. With roughly 140 pieces, I’ve covered everything from my dating profiles, my Spotify playlists, my loving family, my love for Taylor Swift, adventures to the Minnesota State Fair, my affinity for iPhone notes app poetry, etc. The personal freedom I find in Her Campus has always been something I have enjoyed from essentially day one of college. If I didn’t have this creative outlet, I’m convinced my head would have exploded by now. Also with this, the structured element of my writing is less stringent. Sure, I’m held to a level of correct syntax, but we’re not writing in MLA or APA (thank God). The biggest debate between the different writers is the dreaded Oxford comma. As long as you choose one side of the line, you’re fine.
This is definitely a more individualized type of writing. We come up with the ideas in a small group, but we only need ourselves to complete the article. I think that is another one of my favorite parts. Together, we brainstorm, edit, and improve the pieces together, but the middle part of the process is all up to you. Sometimes when I’m feeling unsure of myself, all I need to do to calm worries that my writing is bad is remind myself that in a few short days, I’ll be met with a loving onslaught of suggestions and reassurance that my perspective is my own and I should own it.
Her Campus is something I’ve been involved in since day one of college. I have met some of my favorite people in college through this opportunity. If I think about it too long, I do tend to get a bit misty-eyed to remember the lovely ladies who ushered me into the club, and how I’m right in their shoes as the co-president this year. It’s refreshing to be surrounded by a group of like-minded individuals who are also so vast in their styles and topics of interest. I definitely lean towards a Taylor Swift article a month, but others like to cover large-scale issues like social movements. I’ve improved in how I write and who I am by experiencing the bonds I’ve grown to have with these wonderful women.
The Winonan
This style of writing greatly contrasts what I do for Her Campus, but that is also what I was looking for. It challenges me to write interesting pieces within an accepted hierarchy of important details. Unlike in Her Campus pieces where I can babble forever, this writing is very much removed from my personal voice; it’s objective. Although I’m the one writing it, I am very much telling the stories of others in their words. I appreciate this ebb and flow because oftentimes, in seeking out the stories of others, I find more of myself. It’s a unique challenge.
Unlike Her Campus, our staff of writers are all interested in helping one another get the best sources and connections. This is not to say that HC writers wouldn’t do this, but the success of our publication depends on how well we can use our network and extend it outwards. The Winonan also differs in the way that I’m dedicated to one section of the paper—features—so my ideas and inspiration stem from the typical content expected of featured pieces. It’s not sports coverage or hard news; it’s an interesting balance between my storytelling strengths of HC with the integration of other individuals. Also, it is a surreal experience to see my own name and stories in print. Some think print newspapers are a dying art, so I will cherish the copies of each edition, whether I’m the headline or back-page. Being there at all is so rad.
This community is one that I’m a bit newer to! Although I’ve always been a journalism major, I didn’t join the university paper until midway through my spring semester of sophomore year. Now, two and a half years later, I think I’ve thrived in the environment. Since then, I have also found my people who are interested in objective storytelling. We’re united in a common goal of university coverage, but we also are very much interested in seeing each other grow in our skills. One might think that writing in inverted pyramid and avoiding the Oxford comma like the plague might be perilous and boring, but the heart of the university, in my opinion, comes from those like myself who aim to write the stories from within it. It took me a while to get here, but I’m so glad I found my way.
Although these two publications differ in their styles and writing expectations, I don’t expect my love of writing for either of them to wane anytime soon.
If you’d like to read more of my own work and see the community of writers I’ve mentioned in either publication, feel free to read along at https://www.hercampus.com/school/winona or https://winonan.org/.